Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla threatened to file a legal action against French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé on Tuesday night, accusing him of “gender violence” after the athlete described her on social media as a “despicable woman unworthy of her post.”
Mbappé’s comment, published on social media and supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, was a response to several posts on the site published by Sen. Amarilla that she later deleted in which she disparaged Mbappé by claiming he “sucked on coconuts” as a child and referred to him as a “colonized Cameroonian pretending hard to be French.” Amarilla’s comments were made in the context of France and Paraguay facing each other in a heated FIFA World Cup match on Saturday that ended with France eking out a 1-0 victory against the South American team.
Paraguay’s soccer team has a global reputation of playing soccer aggressively, a physical style of play heavy on defense that can result in a high number of fouls. During the match, Mbappé, the captain of the team, was seen hurling Spanish-language insults at Paraguayan players, accused of shouting la concha de tu madre (“your mother’s [genitalia]”) while on camera.
Mbappé was also accused of refusing to shake the hand of Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
After the match, Sen. Amarilla weighed in on Twitter.
“Brute didn’t even learn how to write, instead of mother’s milk he sucked on coconuts and the most educated thing he heard was chimpanzees. You should have given him the finger Orlando Gill, I do it in the senate and nothing happens!!!” she wrote. In another now-deleted statement, Amarilla also referred to Mbappé as a “colonized Cameroonian, trying hard to be French, resentful, nouveau riche, arrogant, and ugly.”
Mbappé responded to the senator directly, writing on the social media platform in French that Sen. Amarilla was “a despicable woman and unfit for your position.”
“You do not represent Paraguay, which is a country that has sweated out passion and honor throughout the competition,” the soccer player wrote, accusing her of “brazen racism.”
“I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world,” he wrote.
President Macron, currently on a historic visit to Damascus, Syria, took the time to write a brief statement in support of Mbappé, making the feud an international political incident.
“All my support. When words defile, our values respond: dignity, respect, fraternity,” the president wrote.
The Paraguayan Foreign Ministry, which represents the executive branch of conservative President Santiago Peña, was quick to issue a statement distancing itself from the senator, condemning her statements.
“Paraguay is a democratic republic ruled by the principle of separation and independence of powers of the State and, in this context, the statements of the aforementioned legislator exclusively constitute the exercise of her individual responsibility as a member of the legislative power,” the Foreign Ministry emphasized, “and in no way represent the position of the government of the Republic of Paraguay nor of the Paraguayan people.”
The ministry expressed “solidarity with those who could have been affected by these declarations and reiterates its respect for the French people, with which Paraguay maintains a historic relationship of friendship, cooperation, and mutual understanding.”
The feud continued on Tuesday as Sen. Amarilla published an extensive open letter to Mbappé that concluded with threats of legal action against the French player. She clarified that she was personally fond of France and the French people, insisting, “The problem is between me and you, I never said anything about France.” She took issue in particular with Mbappé refusing to shake hands with Gill, calling that final handshake “almost sacred, in war and in peace, in defeat and in victory.” Amarilla also condemned Mbappé’s comments stating that the Paraguayan team made France play “dirty soccer.” The senator appeared to misquote Mbappé, stating that he had said, “If we have to stick my hands in the shit, we will stick them.” Soccer media reported Mbappé as saying, “If we have to get our hands dirty, we will do it… if they tell us to go to shit, we will also tell them to go to shit.”
“During the match you had an arrogant conduct, your disdain was notable to each player, as if you were disgusted by them and without even covering your mouth you said ‘la concha de tu madre,’ an extremely aggressive phrase in Latin America and you know that, which is why you said it,” the senator wrote.
Sen. Amarilla apologized and described herself as a victim of racism, celebrating her “mestiza blood, beautiful mix of indigenous blood and Spanish blood.”
“I regretted it and erased the post. I realized I was repeating patterns of detestation… I understand that you were bothered by it because it is humiliating,” she added.
“Now I demand that you also retract what you said about me and apologize,” Sen. Amarilla concluded. “I will also not tolerate your violence, you don’t know me, you have no idea who I am and have no right to say that I am A DESPICABLE WOMAN, UNFIT FOR THE POST I OCCUPY.”
The senator accused Mbappé of “gender violence” and warned, “retract… or I may begin legal actions for gender violence.”
Speaking to the Paraguayan news outlet ABC on Tuesday, Sen. Amarilla described her initial comments as “street language, of the people, of soccer” but claimed that she had “no hate” against the French or Cameroonians.
“He did not just treat me as unworthy, he said I was a despicable woman unworthy of the charge that I occupy. I can press charges against Mbappé for violence against women, it is pure and hard violence.”
“Watch out that Paraguay already arrested [Brazilian former soccer player] Ronaldinho and [Argentine actress] Moria Casán.”
“It’s not a threat,” she concluded, “I don’t know if I’m going to do it, but I perfectly can.”
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